Anachronism
by Sternenkind1750
Summary: A geisha and a feminist meet in Tokyo at the close of the 19th century – What if Haruka and Michiru had been reborn 100 years too early?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This story has been on my mind for some time, but it took me a while to get started, as it needs quite a lot of research and is somehow much more difficult to write than a fantasy or present time story... I hope you'll enjoy it :) Also, even though I have done quite some research, please don't expect everything to be correct what I am writing about Meiji Japan or geishas. I am happy though, if you point out mistakes :) By the way, the beginning is a little inspired by Isabel Allende's "The house of spirits". One of the characters called Rosa reminded me very strongly of Michiru (I wonder if anyone who read the book thought the same?) and I am alluding to this in the beginning. Also, I am not a native English speaker, so there will be probably be some mistakes, weird grammar, etc.

It would be great to hear what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Sailor Moon obviously doesn't belong to me.

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><p>In a cold night in spring, on March 6th in 1877, a little girl was born in a fishermen's village at the eastern coast of Japan. The mother was beside herself when she saw the child for she was sure to have given birth to a demon. The little girl's hair shimmered turquoise, just like the sea and her eyes were as blue as the sky.<p>

The midwife simply looked critically at the child and then asked for black tea leaves from which she brewed a thick decoction. She washed the little girl's hair with it and told the mother that she should do so regularly from now on – the turquoise would fade to a darker color.

Indeed, the color faded slightly, but it continued to shine with a faint blue-green. And the little girl with the strange hair, the blue eyes and the pale, almost translucent skin did not only look completely different from her siblings, she also behaved unlike them. From early on she was quiet and calm and content to play by herself.

But even if all this gave her mother enough cause for concern and she was glad that the father didn't pay too much attention to his numerous daughters, what worried her even more were the fantastic stories the little girl told the other children, of a strange moon kingdom in which a beautiful golden-haired princess lived. Where did the child get those ideas from? She had never ever seen a person with fair hair in her life, of that her mother was quite sure.

The people in the little village whispered about the child, suspecting that she might be a sea demon's child or maybe had been exchanged by the mermaids for one of their own. Or was she possessed by an ancient sprit who taught her the strange things she said and knew?

~o~o~

It was quite late at night when Michiru stole away from the house. Finally her oldest sister who lay in the futon beside her had fallen asleep and she needn't fear that she might get caught immediately. She left her wooden shoes behind and hurried barefoot to the shore, fearing that the sound of her geta would betray her too easily.

It took only a few minutes to reach the sea and this was one of the things she loved about this house. At the place to which her parents wanted to send her, she wouldn't be able to do so, they had said. It was not possible to simply walk to the shore and a life away from the sea was a life she felt unable to imagine, after living by its side for all of the six years she had already spent in this world.

She was convinced that she could never feel at home anywhere where she couldn't hear and smell the sea.

"Don't be silly, Michiru", her mother had said. "You only think so because you've never been away. You'll forget it soon." But while saying so, she had looked at her fearfully from the side, just as she did when Michiru told her about her lively dreams of a far-away kingdom.

Since she suddenly had known that something bad was going to happen to her big brother and he hadn't come home from fishing the next day – since then her mother always looked at her with this strange gaze, when she said such things. Was this the real reason why she was sent away?

Mother had said that she was going to live in a big house and learn to be a fine lady who was able to sing, dance and make music – she liked that, for she loved music. But she didn't want to go away from her parents and sisters and particularly from the sea.

„Mother is having another baby and maybe it's finally a boy again", her father had said when she had begged him to be allowed to stay. "You have to help support the family, Michiru. Yoshiko will marry and you need to do your part as well."

„It is a great honor", her mother had added, but Michiru wasn't sure whether she had really meant what she said. Why were her sisters allowed to stay and she had to go?

As the stars faded, she finally went back home and lay down next to her sister. Seemingly, no one had noticed her absence and she fell asleep exhausted.

~o~o~

It was spring time again and the wind ruffled the still bald trees. Michiru stopped for a moment and smiled as she saw the first tender buds forming. It wasn't long now until the cherry blossoms would flood the entire city with pink.

"Chiyoko-san?" The voice of the younger girl a few steps ahead of her, Yuka, brought her to her senses. She smiled at her apologetically and hurried onwards, her geta chattering on the floor. They mustn't come home late, there wasn't much time left until the evening.

She had gotten used to be called by a different name by now, her geisha name. She was Chiyoko now, eternal child, in honor of her older sister Chiyoha.

This was the third spring for her as a Maiko. Since more than three years she was accompanying her older sister as an apprentice geisha and entertained their customers together with her. She smiled in remembrance at how much she had struggled when her parents wanted to give her away. She had been lucky, incredibly lucky to have been sold to an okiya, a geisha house, and such a respectable one at that – her fate might certainly have been much worse.

Of course, she couldn't marry – or at least not soon, but she had no desire to do so either. Several of her fellow geishas and maikos had fallen for a man at some point and harbored secret dreams of him paying the price to free her from her duty to the okiya and marry her.

But she had never met someone for whom she felt like this. Only in a past life, which she felt sure by now was what her dreams showed her, there had been someone for her, but while her dreams were mostly vivid and detailed, she had never caught more than a few glimpses of this person – fair hair, not golden like the moon princess', but almost white - she smiled softly to herself.

And she enjoyed her vocation. Dancing and singing came easily to her and her skills on the flute, shamisen and as a painter and calligraphist were highly praised despite her young age. And she loved the moment when she and her sister appeared in the tea house in the evening in their white masks and silken kimonos, drawing all attention towards them.

Today, however, she was uncommonly nervous. In the tea houses businesses deals were closed and politics discussed and the geishas were responsible for creating the right atmosphere. Tonight several influential politicians and scholars would attend and she was exited, but also slightly scared that conversation might reach a level surpassing her skills. In no case she wanted to embarrass Chiyoha.

The only thing she bitterly missed in her new home in Tokyo was the sea, but it wasn't too far away, that much she knew by now – in Japan the sea was never far. And the wind carried its scent to her, even if no else was able to discern it except for her.

They left their wooden geta at the entrance and entered the house which was already buzzing with excitement and preparations. The geishas and maikos were readying themselves for the evening.

Yuka, who was no Maiko yet, offered her help and she took her along to look for Chiyoha, who greeted them happily without reprimanding them for being late. Michiru smiled gratefully. She was lucky with her older sister. She was an amiable young woman and in contrast to many others didn't enjoy ordering the younger girls around.

She went to the vanity and looked at her reflection. Her hair was rearranged once a week and during this period she had to sleep on a wooden stick like all the other girls to keep her hair in order. It had taken many weeks, but by now she had gotten used to the painful pillow.

It had been five days now since she had had it arranged last, but it still looked tidy and contented she started to color her face and neck in white. When she was finished, she outlined her eyes and eyebrows in black and then applied red powder to her eyes and eyebrows and to her cheeks, tinting them pink, as was common for a young maiko.

Finally, she colored her lips with red paint and looked at her face in the small mirror with satisfaction. She loved the colors covering her face like a mask even though she sometimes wished to be free to paint whatever she wanted, rather than having to adhere to the strict rules.

„Are you finished, Chiyoko-chan?" Chiyoha approached her with Yuka, who was carrying the kimonos for tonight in her arms – a pale pink one for the maiko and a more mature violet for the geisha, both covered with cherry blossoms to match the approaching season.

Two helpers joined them and assisted them donning the kimonos and binding the obis – this was the only task in the geisha house performed by men, for the heavy kimonos required a lot of strength to bind. Finally, they put expensive tortoise combs and colorful pins into their hair and left for the evening, fair like colorful butterflies.

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><p>To be continued.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thanks a lot for your reviews! :) As a little warning: There are some political views expressed in this chapter, which of course do not correspond to my personal views, just in case anyone feels offended.

As always, it would be great to get some feedback to see whether you like where this is going :)

**Disclaimer:** I never know whether I need to do this every chapter, so I'll just do it once more…for this and future chapters, the disclaimer on top of the first chapter applies :)

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><p>Michiru entered the tea house behind Chiyoha. Her sister's patron, a high ranking politician, who was tonight's host, greeted them and introduced them to the guests. There were not many people present tonight and she already knew some of them. As Chiyoha had acquainted her with most of the others in advance, she looked around, trying to find out which faces belonged to the names her sister had mentioned.<p>

Soon she was talking to a gentle faced elderly man, a philosophy professor at Tokyo University. Chiyoha had told her that he was counted among the university's geniuses, but at the same time was said to be distraught, unworldly and for this reason shockingly unconventional. These rumors were probably true, she thought, smiling to herself, as her conversation partner tried with great passion to acquaint the young maiko with a Greek philosopher called Platon, after she admitted to knowing nothing about western philosophy.

There was a young man sitting next to the professor whom she couldn't match with a name on her list however hard she tried. Hiding her face behind her fan, she regarded him more closely. His short hair was much lighter than was to be expected – a color at least as uncommon as hers. And green eyes… he wore a dark suit with a white shirt, as she had seen it a couple of times on men from the far west, a fashion which slowly also became popular among Japanese men. A European?

He seemed familiar – very familiar in fact, like a relative or a close friend – or more? But she had been living in the geisha house for years, she hardly knew any men really well…and still… Suddenly he turned his head and looked directly into her eyes.

Fascinated she returned the look. She couldn't say why, but all of a sudden she knew that this person was not a man, even if her appearance suggested otherwise. The young woman winked at her and embarrassed she averted her eyes. Suddenly the room seemed much warmer.

„Chiyoko-san?", her conversation partner's voice pulled her out off her thoughts.

She blushed under her white make-up and hoped that it wasn't visible. "Please forgive me, professor, I wasn't quite able to keep up with you….You mentioned that all people are only imperfect shadows of another world?" she repeated uncertainly the last thing she remembered.

"Feel more than free to admit if my uncle's lengthy lecture is boring you", the young woman, who had stolen her attention, suddenly interjected.

"Oh no, I am not bored at all!" Michiru contradicted horrified – and she really wasn't. Imperfect shadows of another world? Maybe that was why she was reborn again, trying to come closer and closer to the perfect origin - even though she had the feeling that this time she might have drifted even farer from it.

She shouldn't have allowed herself to be distracted from the conversation. What were the customers going to think?

But the professor only laughed. "Leave the poor girl alone, Haruka", he said reproachfully. "May I introduce, Chiyoko-san, this is my…er, my nephew, Tenoh Haruka."

Michiru's eyes widened a moment. So she really pretended to be a man – how very bizarre.

„My name is…Chiyoko", she said politely and bowed. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She almost had introduced herself with her real name, only catching herself in the last moment. What was wrong with her?

A couple of other men joined them and the conversation slowly moved away from ancient philosophy to politics.

She asked a few polite questions and made a couple of carefully conciliating comments if the discussion became too heated or threatened to die down and she was relieved to find that it came to her without effort.

„I don't see why the entire country should bow to this old man", Haruka was currently saying heatedly to an elderly man who all but choked and wasn't far from having a fit due to this lack of respect towards the emperor.

"We should introduce a new system", Haruka continued unfazed.

„You prefer democracy, then?" Michiru asked, suddenly curious, before she could stop herself.

She knew that there was a long-raging dispute among democrats and monarchists and that now a constitution was being in the works, regarding which the different parties held very diverging opinions. While the democrats tried to strengthen the people's influence in the constitution, the conservatives strived for retaining the emperor's and nobilities' power. It had probably not been a good idea to provide further fuel to the conversation with her question.

And indeed, another man sporting a huge moustache bellowed "Or are you a god-damned communist?"

„Oh, I wouldn't be opposed to a monarchist government, if I was allowed to bow to a queen", Haruka laughed.

Michiru started and almost spilled some of the sake she had been pouring a customer. A queen? There had been a queen reigning the moon kingdom she saw in her dreams, hadn't there? And the princess with the golden hair, she had been the heiress to the throne… What had happened to her? She often wondered whether the fair kingdom she saw in her dreams might be still in place on the moon.

Haruka's statement led the discussion to the question whether a woman would be an acceptable ruler – as was to be expected everyone was quite opposed except for Haruka and her uncle, who reminded them of Himiko, Japan's first queen, who had brought the country according to some legends an age of peace and abundance.

„It is said that every time Japan was ruled by a woman, peace reigned", he concluded, smiling gently.

„Pah, peace!" the man with the large moustache barked. "We don't need peace! Japan is strong, we are winning the war against China! And look at Prussia, that's what we need to model ourselves after. Peace leads us nowhere. This shows us more than anything that women aren't made to be rulers. And what kind of man are you in the first place?" he added scathingly, looking at Haruka.

Haruka scowled and clenched her fists, but her uncle warningly laid a hand onto her's.

"Women should delight us with their beauty and educate our children with patience and wisdom. I am sure you agree with me, fair Chiyoko-san?" A young man sitting next to her touched her arm confidentially.

Under Haruka's burning gaze she would have liked nothing more than to contradict him vehemently. But she pulled herself together and tore her eyes away from her. She smiled at the young man and asked coquettishly "Oh, indeed, is that all you demand of a woman, sir?" The group laughed and the tension dissolved.

~o~o~

„Do you like him?" Chiyoha asked curiously the next day, as they readied themselves for the evening.

"Whom?" Michiru replied surprised.

„Professor Tenoh's nephew. You looked at him so intently…" She giggled, while she blackened her eyebrows in her already powder-white face.

„Ohh...no…I just thought…he looks so unusual." Michiru blushed.

"Indeed, unusual." Chiyoha winked at her. „You are right though, he looks very interesting...and you have to keep in mind that he is probably rich and influential and if you get him to fall for you, he might marry you or you might become his lover if he already has a wife once you are a geisha…" She trailed off with a dreamy expression on her face

Michiru laughed, well aware what the young woman thought of. Chiyoha was entertaining a lively relationship with a young man from a nearby quarter, which she had to keep strictly secret. It wasn't forbidden for a geisha to be involved in relationships – only a maiko, who still was regarded as a child wasn't allowed to. Children were born every now and then in the okiyas and everyone particularly rejoiced over the birth of a little girl, whereas most husbands expected a male heir.

Still, a geisha had to think of her reputation and Chiyoha's beloved Takuro was no befitting suitor, but just a poor devil who was struggling from one badly paid job to the next. And so no one knew of the relationship except for Michiru.

Her thoughts wandered back to Haruka. In fact she had barely thought of anything else since last night…never before had anyone managed to fluster her like that. But also apart from the startling effect the young woman had had on her, the encounter had intrigued her. She had never met a woman who dressed as a man. Men dressed as women, on the other hand, she encountered almost on a daily basis, starting with the Kabuki actors, who were a common love interest for many maikos and geishas.

How did she do it? She was quite awed at the boldness of the young woman, dressing up at as a man and coming to such an exclusive gathering… her uncle was bound to know that she was a woman, of course. Allowed her family this behavior? Approved even of it? Surely it would cause a major scandal if it ever came out…after all, even cutting one's hair short was forbidden for women…

Chiyoha cleared her throat discretely next to her and pulled Michiru out of her thoughts. Startled she noticed that she had been holding the powder tin in her hands for quite some time already. She opened it and started to apply the color to her cheeks.

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><p>To be continued.<p>

By the way, I am not sure whether the restriction that forbid women to cut their hair short was still in place in the 1890s... it was introduced in the 1870s though. Maybe anyone knows?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well! As always, feedback would be lovely :)

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><p>„And these are the basic mechanics of a steam engine". The professor quickly drew a rough illustration on the blackboard and labeled the different parts. Fascinated, Haruka watched and copied the drawing.<p>

This was so much more interesting than the abstract philosophy lectures her uncle gave. She was glad that she had chosen to persuade him to let her attend the lectures in physics and in particular mechanics – even though she had been afraid to cross a line with this request. But her uncle, being the scholar he was, had seen how much the topic fascinated her and had had a word with his respective colleagues.

She had been living now for more than three months at her uncle's house. When her father received the opportunity to travel abroad to study the European political and legal systems and his wife accompanied him, they had entrusted their only daughter to her father's younger brother.

In the first days she had been bored to death in Tokyo – not that this was a novelty in comparison to Osaka, but there she had always been surrounded by her mother as well as several aunts, cousins and servants. However, her mother had sent no one to Tokyo with her but one maidservant and Yoko had fallen on the first day for the neighbor's gardener and spent the entire day outside. And her uncle had almost no servants of his own – only an elderly house keeper, who sat almost all day in the kitchen.

Haruka wasn't unhappy to be left alone, but as she knew no one here except for her busy uncle who spent all day at university, there was nothing for her to do, since she wasn't interested in pursuing embroidery, calligraphy or any similar appropriate occupation for young ladies as long as no one made her do so.

When she had been younger, she had left the house in Osaka sometimes secretly dressed up as a servant to roam the city freely – a well-to-do upper-class daughter couldn't possibly do so. However, her unusual hair color and height had quickly given her away and her mother had been furious every time. It had certainly been worth it, but from then on she had been watched closely.

She had thought about trying it out here again…no one knew her in Tokyo. However, Yoko was much smaller than her and the cook was not only tiny, but fat… Maybe going out in the plainest kimonos she owned might work…

And then a better thought crossed her mind. If she was a man she would be able to go and do whatever she wanted. She was tall and slender; with the right clothes she would be able to fool most people. In fact, she had the feeling that she had already done so in the past.

It happened every now and then that she had a vague feeling that something wasn't quite like it was supposed to be or had been in the past – maybe in another life? She knew that she looked strange with her much too light hair and eyes and often wondered whether she might have been born at the wrong time or the wrong place. But it happened only rarely that she felt that something actually HAD been like this.

She had tried on one of her uncle's suits and looked at her reflection. The effect wouldn't have been bad – if it hadn't been for the waist long hair. Men tended more and more to wear their hair short, especially if they were dressed in western fashion and without further ado she had cropped her hair short.

When her uncle returned home, she had been wearing her kimono again. He had simply frowned at her short hair and asked whether this was the latest fashion now. He had no wife or children – not even a mistress as far as she could tell – and thought of nothing but his beloved philosophy. Towards worldly things like appearance he was astonishingly ignorant – she wondered if he even knew that women were not even allowed to cut their hair.

She started secretly to leave the house while he was away and was very satisfied how well her disguise worked – no one recognized her as a woman. Adjusting her way of speaking and behavior came easily to her as well.

And then one day her uncle returned home early and caught her and she thought that this was where her adventure ended. However, to her surprise he hadn't forced her back into her cage dressed up as a pretty doll. Instead, he had looked at her thoughtfully and asked her what it was that she wanted to do. Originally, his brother had asked him to look for a fitting husband for his daughter while she lived in Tokyo – which showed how little her father knew his brother, she thought.

"I may not know much about these matters, but I believe an aspiring bride wouldn't dress like this", he had added, when she looked at him amazed, for no one had ever posed that question to her.

There had only ever been one possible way to pursue for her – marriage. Never had there been another option. And even though she knew that this wasn't what she wanted, in fact the thought outright horrified her, she had never seen a way out. So, she had tried to postpone the inevitable as long as possible and up to now scared all potential suitors away successfully. This was possibly the main reason, she guessed, why her parents had sent her to Tokyo – her reputation was yet unblemished there.

Her uncle had laughed when he saw her astonished face and asked her whether she would like to accompany him to the university. Of course she wanted! This had to be completely different from her own education during which her mother had together with a legion of teachers tried without success to make a good wife out of her tomboyish daughter.

She ran her fingers through her short her and sighed softly. This was only a short respite; she shouldn't allow herself to forget this. When her parents came back, they were bound to find her a husband willing to marry her. They had made it quite clear that they were not willing to allow her to become an old maid…

She shuddered at the thought. She had never been drawn to men, not even the young men who she met daily at university. And the thought of being married to a man – and having to bear him children – repulsed her.

Her mother had said that this would come with time, that she would fall for her husband eventually, that her feeling drawn rather to the servant girls than any of her suitors was only a passing fancy, a phase she would outgrow. She had been told so thousands of times. But she still felt unable to believe it.

The pretty young maiko whom she had met only yesterday certainly made believing so even harder…and when she had seen her, this feeling had returned – and it hadn't told her that this was wrong, but that this was right - in fact, that it had happened before. Not a déjà vu, no, it hadn't happened like this, not this way – but they had met before. She shook her head at the strange thought.

But what did it matter? In the end marriage was never based on attraction, at least not for a woman.

He uncle spoke of freedom of choice and equality – things no one had ever talked to her about before and she was more than willing to believe them to be true and adopt these ideals as her own. But how to transfer all these pretty words to her reality? What way out was there for her? She was trapped and she despised the feeling. And her lack of options angered her, the more she got a taste of freedom.

~o~o~

A few evenings later, Michiru and Chiyoha were on their way to an evening party. The cherry blossoms were in bloom by now and outlined the darkening street in pink.

They were drawing considerable attention to themselves – there were rarely women to be seen in public in such elegant clothing.

"How graceful you are, Chiyoko-chan", Chiyoha said sighing and looked at her high geta. "You are natural at this … I think you don't need to stay a maiko much longer. Sometimes I feel that there is nothing left for me to teach you… Okasan says so as well." The okasan, the woman they all called mother, was the owner of their okiya, a former geisha herself.

Michiru shook her head and wanted to contradict her, as Chiyoha suddenly nudged her "Look Chiyoko-chan, there he is!" she exclaimed.

Confused she turned her head towards the direction Chiyoha was indicating and her eyes fell on Haruka Tenoh, who was crossing the street with a couple of other students – all dressed in dark suits, just like her, heading towards them.

Chiyoha bowed in greeting and Michiru did the same.

„Tenoh-sama, I do hope you remember my younger sister, Chiyoko?" she asked smilingly.

„Naturally, Chiyoha-san." Haruka looked at Michiru shortly and winked. Michiru felt herself blush and was grateful for her white make-up.

Last night she had dreamed again of her past and had seen the face of the person who had been her beloved in her past life for the first time – Haruka's face. She wondered whether she had started to mix up past and present in her dreams, for what an unlikely coincidence would it be if Haruka was her lover from a past life? In her dream Haruka hadn't been wearing a suit, but a midnight blue dress, tall and regal like a queen…

She pulled herself together. „I hope we meet again soon, Tenoh-sama", she said and smiled gently.

"Likewise, Chiyoko-san", Haruka replied and her fellow students grinned, some of them throwing teasing remarks at her. Did really no one except for her see that she was a woman, Michiru wondered, as she and Chiyoha walked on. It was perfectly clear to her – but everyone else seemed to see nothing but a young man.

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><p>To be continued.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** As always, it would be great to know whether you (still) like where this is going :) This story will have several more chapters (I don't know how many exactly yet) and I have a storyline and an ending planned (which might change in the progress of course), just in case anyone worries about a rather sudden ending like in my last story ;)

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><p>„Haruka, this weekend there will be a gathering in Shimada-samas mansion in the countryside. Would you like to come? The cherry blossoms will soon wither and it is one of the last opportunities this year to see them in such a beautiful environment."<p>

"A gathering to watch cherry blossoms?" she drawled, raising an eyebrow. "What's the real reason?"

They were sitting at a low table, eating their evening meal. Haruka sat cross-legged, glad about the freedom the long trousers granted her, just like her uncle, who sat across from her and reached for his rice bowl at the moment.

He paused in his movement and laughed. "You are impossible. Several scholars and politicians who are interested in driving the constitution into a more democratic direction will be present. I wanted to talk to some people… However, the participant who should be most interesting for you is an American engineer who is concerned with a new transportation vehicle, the so-called automobile."

Haruka looked at him startled and set her own rice bowl down. "The automobile? Really? I have heard about it in a lecture, but there seems to be none in Japan yet…I would love to see one with my own eyes one day…"

"You're coming along then?" he smiled.

She nodded, grateful and still a little surprised that he played along and let her be and do whatever she wanted. But whenever she mentioned this, he simply shrugged and told her that he was a wholehearted liberal after all.

~o~o~

On Saturday, Michiru was also on her way to the cherry blossom gathering together with Chiyoha, who had been asked to attend with her younger sister in order to bring a little color to the gathering.

"You know, Chiyoko-chan", Chiyoha said. „Takuro says that he will surely have soon enough money to pay my debts to the okiya and marry me…" She sighed and looked at the fields, which slowly passed by their rickshaw, her subdued gaze posing a stark contrast to the fresh greenery, which just started to sprout, and the sunny afternoon.

"Has he found work?" Michiru asked uncertainly, for Takuro was not only poor, but also never managed to keep a job for a longer period of time.

Chiyohas gaze darkened further. "He wants to volunteer as a soldier, he says…"

Michiru stared at her. "As a soldier? Can he do so just like that?"

Japan was a war with China since half a year and at the moment the outlook was good for the Japanese army. But she didn't believe that Takuro even had ever held a weapon in his hands.

Chiyoha sighed again. "I believe they always need soldiers…:" She turned her gaze away from the fields. "Never fall in love with a poor man…", she muttered darkly.

Even though Chiyoha was still quite young and therefore still had a large sum left to repay to the okiya, the pretty girl had many suitors and more than one of them – amongst others her patron – had asked her to marry him. But of course she would be unable to see Takuro anymore in this case and so she postponed her answer again and again.

Michiru nodded and her fingers tightened around the metal frame of the rickshaw onto which she was holding. This was a promise she could make confidently.

In the past nights, memories from her past life had started to flood her dreams more than ever before.

She had been a princess, a princess of another, very far away planet… and it had been her task to protect the moon princess and her kingdom, the girl who had been at the center of her dreams ever since her childhood. But now her dreams centered on another person, another princess from a planet which was just as far away from the moon as hers, her beloved from her past life. And she still wore Haruka's face.

Uranus, that had been her name. And Neptune her own. Strange names were these…she shook her head lightly.

„Yes or no?" Chiyoha's amused voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

„Pardon, what did you say?" Michiru blinked a few times to return to reality.

"You nodded first and then shook your head", Chiyoha laughed. "Have you thought of a poor man, whom you would like to give your heart? It can't be Tenoh-sama's nephew, I just learned that he studies at Tokyo University."

Michiru blushed and shook her head, sighing softly. "Chiyoha-san, don't..."

„He is attending today, did you know that?" Her sister looked at her from the side.

"Ooh…indeed…," Michiru replied faintly.

~o~o~

It was a beautiful mansion with a wonderful garden full of blooming cherry blossom trees. It would be a wonderful scenery to paint, Michiru thought, regretting that she couldn't do so right away.

She soon spotted Haruka who indeed was accompanying her uncle, most of the time engaged in deep conversation with a tall bearded American towering even over her. From what she gathered he was an engineer and Haruka seemed to be very interested in a new type of vehicle called automobile. As she herself found trains already much too fast for her liking, she couldn't quite relate, but the passion with which Haruka engulfed herself into the topic made her smile.

Even though she felt drawn to her, she took care to talk to all guests equally – by no means was she supposed to give all her attention to such a young guest. But she felt Haruka's presence strongly in the background, wherever she was and whomever she talked to. And during Chiyoha's and her performances she forgot about everyone else, as Haruka's gaze was fixed on her.

Only as dusk fell, she finally found herself talking to Haruka and her uncle outside under the cherry trees. The night air was slowly getting chilly and the others left one by one to go inside. Finally, also Professor Tenoh left them, so they were alone in the gardens.

Silence settled between them for a long moment until finally, Haruka broke it.

„Neptune."

Michiru all but choked on the sake Haruka had given her and started to cough.

„Are you alright?" Haruka patted her on the back, taking the sake back and Michiru gasped for air.

"I beg your pardon, what did you say?" she finally asked, when she had regained her speech. Had she heard correctly?

„Well, Neptune is a god from greek-roman mythology…" Michiru stared at Haruka surprised.

Seemingly a little unsettled, Haruka continued "Well, you looked so confused when my uncle made that allusion regarding your hair, so I assumed you didn't know what he referred to…?"

„Oh…that. Yes." Unconsciously her hand went to her elaborately arranged hair. As Haruka looked at her expectantly, she added, "So Neptune has green hair?"

Haruka laughed. "This is very well possible. He is the god of the ocean and supposedly together with his brothers Pluto and Jupiter one of the strongest gods residing in the Olympus."

"Indeed? Where did you learn these things?" Michiru asked fascinated.

"My uncle told me. That's all I remember, I am sure that he will be glad to instruct you in detail about the matter, if you ask him…"

Michiru laughed. They were standing in the moonlight under the cherry blossom tree, where Haruka's uncle had left them.

„And Uranus?" she asked then and looked at the tall young woman curiously. "Is that a god as well?"

Haruka frowned thoughtfully. „I think my uncle mentioned him, yes…as far as I remember, he personifies the sky…but he is no Olympian god and isn't as present in mythology for this reason...I think..."

So the name meant nothing to Haruka, Michiru thought, feeling quiet disappointment. If Haruka had been Uranus in a past life, she would surely remember more in detail what her uncle told her about a god bearing the same name. Or might it be possible that she simply didn't remember?

„Would you like to sit down? The high geta are surely uncomfortable to stand…," Haruka pulled her out of her thoughts.

„I would love to, that's most kind of you", Michiru replied. She felt Haruka's hand on her arm as she led the way, only the faintest touch, and smiled softly, as they slowly went to a low stone bank and sat down. She needed to forget the past which she only knew from her dreams and focus on the present. What did it matter whether Haruka had been Uranus?

Lanterns were lit in the garden to illuminate the cherry blossoms. The pink flowers had started to fall, as the season was coming to a close and tumbled down on people and paths whenever the wind picked up.

Haruka moved to pick a blossom that had settled in Michiru's hair, letting her hand linger a moment longer than strictly necessary.

"How beautiful you are, Chiyoko-san. But I wish I could see you once without your mask," she said, running a feather light finger over Michiru's white-painted cheek, before withdrawing her hand. She said it lightly, but the light blush grazing her cheeks told Michiru that she was not merely jesting.

"Maybe you would be disappointed", she said smiling gently, in response.

She paused a moment, unsure whether it was wise to continue. But she needed Haruka to know that she saw her for who she truly was.

"I as well would like to see without your mask. Maybe you would be even more beautiful than you are now," she said, trailing the outline of the grey waistcoat Haruka wore under her jacket. "For is it not also a mask you wear?"

Haruka's eyes widened in shock. "I don't understand what you are talking about, Chiyoko-san…" she whispered, her voice cracking.

She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Tenoh-sama. Your disguise is excellent; I don't think anyone else sees through it. They all think that you are a man. I've just always…seen and known things", she trailed off softly, thinking of her brother.

"You know?" Haruka was still staring at her, the shock hardly waning. She took hold of Michiru's wrist, so tightly, that it was almost painful. "You can't tell anyone, Chiyoko-san, please…"

„I won't tell anyone. I have known since I first met you," Michiru soothed. "It suits you though, your mask", she added lightly.

Haruka released her and gave her a tentative smile. "I'm sorry…I don't know what will happen if it gets out. In the beginning it was just a game, but slowly I wonder what I am getting myself into…"

Michiru nodded slowly. "Your uncle knows, though, I assume?"

Haruka nodded. She told her how she had come to Tokyo mere months ago to live at her uncle's house while her parents traveled to Europe and how she had assumed a male identity soon afterwards.

Michiru listened intently. So after her parents returned she would be bound to marry? She certainly didn't like this thought, didn't like it at all. However, she shouldn't be surprised. She had known that Haruka was a woman and that she belonged to the upper class. What else was supposed to happen?

"Now, that you know my deepest secret, tell me something of you," Haruka said, changing the topic.

"What would you like to know?" Michiru replied hesitantly. What was there to know? Her dreams? She would think her to be mad. Since she had been sent away from home, she had always kept her dreams strictly secret.

"Your true name," Haruka said and Michiru smiled.

"It's Michiru," she provided the answer gladly. "But you can only call me so between the two of us," she added secretively and put a finger to her lips.

"Alright, Michiru-san," Haruka answered, trying out the name and Michiru smiled at the sound of it.

"Shall we go back then?" Michiru proposed reluctantly. "We will be missed…"

Haruka nodded and stood, offering a hand to Michiru. She took it, linking their hands together for a moment while they walked back side by side.

* * *

><p>To be continued.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your reviews! They always make my day :) There isn't so much happening in this chapter, as I felt that I need to provide a little more background…I hope it isn't too boring. Please let me know what you think :)

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><p>Spring slowly faded into summer and together with the oppressing humidity of June's rain season, a first letter from Haruka's parents arrived. They had finally reached Italy, their first European destination, from where they were to proceed to visit Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France travelling by train and carriage and then cross the sea to see Great Britain.<p>

The letter contained a long account of the wonderful things they had seen on their way passing Hongkong, Singapore and Egypt as well as other magnificent sounding places. Haruka devoured it with avid interest, the vivid description of the people who traveled with them, the strange food they had tasted and the landscapes they had seen making her almost miss her parents and more than ever wish that she could have accompanied them – until she arrived at the postscript into which her mother had crammed all admonishments and advice she could think of, the most prominent of them being to try and talk in a gentle manner, to walk slowly to prevent her kimono from flapping open and to obey her uncle.

Also, she mentioned in the postscript, they had been introduced to a very clever young man in Italy, who was currently residing in Europe and planned to return to Japan next year to look himself for a wife. They had suggested introducing him to their daughter and he had been delighted. Wouldn't it be a wonderful opportunity to marry someone as promising as him?

Haruka frowned at the passage, hoping that both her parents and the man would forget about it or that he would find himself a European girl to marry – it was still a long time till next year. As much as she would love to travel, marrying definitely wasn't worth it.

How long might it be until her parents returned to Japan? It had taken them about three months to reach Europe, but they had stopped frequently and visited many places on their way. They might make their journey back in less than two months. From what they had written she gathered that they contemplated making a short visit to the United States as well, to see at least some of the East Coast, as it appeared to take only a few days to reach New York from England. So most likely they would not be back before New Year – maybe even spring.

After a final look at the enclosed colored postcards, she firmly tucked the letter away under a stack of papers in her desk. She hated being reminded of what was waiting for her. Recently her time was completely taken up with her studies at university and her engagement in politics at her uncle's side, but she had never enjoyed herself as much as she did now.

They had started to study the mechanics of aeronautics and were constructing a flying machine. She wanted nothing more than to try it out once it was finished – if they ever managed to finish it – even though her uncle had been horrified when she mentioned it, outright forbidding her to do so. "However am I going to explain to your father that you killed yourself with that terrible apparatus?" he had said and grudgingly she had agreed, even though she still hoped to find a way around her promise. How wonderful must it be to be able to fly?

Still, there were other moments which pulled her from the stubborn illusion she had set up around herself. While Chiyoko, or Michiru, as she called her in her thoughts now – she had to take increasingly care not to let the name slip accidentally – had truly remained so far the only person to recognize her as a woman, there had been two incidents, when she encountered people familiar with her parents who were startled upon meeting a young male Tenoh – hadn't there only been a daughter? Luckily she had met so far no one who actually knew her.

But as much as she worried about encountering someone who recognized her, she wouldn't stay away from the evening gatherings for her life to which her uncle took her along as his assistant now on a regular basis. Not only because she believed into what he fought for, even though she had started to realize that politics weren't really for her, as they were moving much too slowly, required too much diplomacy and endless, tiresome discussions rather than action. But also, and increasingly more importantly to her, thanks to these meetings, she found herself frequently at banquets at which Michiru performed. She rarely had a chance to speak to her, but even only seeing her on a weekly basis was becoming a surprisingly important part of her life.

Yoko entered the house and lit a lamp, making her notice that dusk had fallen. The maid moved swiftly about the house, lighting a few more lamps, despite her advancing pregnancy.

She had started to show about a month ago and Haruka remembered how startled she had been when she first noticed. However, Yoko had said nothing so far and so Haruka pretended not to see it – just as Yoko pretended to miss the fact that her mistress was wearing now western style men's clothes rather than her colorful kimonos and needed no help dressing anymore in the morning.

Still, she wondered whether the girl was still seeing her child's father, as there had been no mention made of marriage. Recently, she was home so little that she hardly noticed what the young maid was doing during the day. Should she approach Yoko, ask whether she needed help?

She sighed softly. And then? She would not even know how to help if she did…

She rose from the desk to change for the evening, putting on a white shirt, a light grey waistcoat and dark grey suit. Michiru would be there tonight. She checked her tie in the mirror before she left the house and then laughed at herself as she realized what she was doing.

~o~o~

Heavy rain crackled onto the roof, as Michiru sat in her usual chair at the hair dresser's for the weekly rearrangement of her hair. Her eyes were red and felt puffy from her lack of sleep and she closed them a moment, trusting the hair dresser to do his work.

There was so much to do right now in the okiya that she hardly knew anymore how to steal a little time to rest. Chiyoha and she were becoming more and more popular among their customers and invited to more and more evening parties – mostly they attended several per evening and came home very late, often only early in the morning.

And during the day there were still lessons to attend and visits to important people to make they needed to remain on good terms with. On some days she hardly slept and if she did, her dreams were troubled with scenes of loneliness and fighting from her past. How long had she lived, she wondered, back then? Whenever she saw herself in the mirror which had been her constant companion then, she looked as though she might be in her early twenties, but she was not sure how all the different things she had seen and done back then could even fit into a lifetime.

And while she was a warrior, often even a commander in her dreams, at day she was just as busy as a dancer, entertainer, artist, wondering if one day she might not confuse the two.

She was getting more and more accomplished on the shamisen and was frequently asked to perform. Her okasan and Chiyoha were getting anxious for her to soon become a geisha, which would allow her to reach a new level of mastery on the shamisen and engage more in playing rather than dancing. And she agreed with them, for she enjoyed playing the instrument immensely. She also liked dancing very much, but when she played her instruments – the flute, the drums, but most of all the shamisen – she felt happiest and perfectly at peace.

And then there was Yuka she would have to take care of soon, the oldest of the apprentice girls who would in autumn become a minarai and be her younger sister. Business was going well for the okiya currently, there were three geishas and three maikos in the house and with Yuka they would be four. She looked forward to taking on the responsibility for the girl and taking care of her, just as Chiyoha was doing for her, but she also worried a little. She knew that she wasn't as easily approachable as Chiyoha was and hoped that she wouldn't disappoint Yuka as an older sister.

Her eyes shot open, as the hair dresser painfully tied her hair to a tight knot on the top of her head – like every geisha she would probably be bald on that spot in a few years, she thought fleetingly and sighed relieved as she knew the most painful part of the procedure to be over for today.

The rain had stopped again and she looked outside. The streets were drenched and she hoped that they would have dried up by the time she was ready to leave; otherwise her shoes and kimono's hem were bound to get muddy.

She caught sight of Chiyoha, who was sitting next to her and giggled at her older sister's expression, as the girl also looked out of the window, an annoyed expression marring her pretty face.

She smiled as she saw the bright sunrays sparkle in the puddles. Her own mood couldn't be dimmed by the weather, for tonight she would see Haruka again.

Luckily, despite how busy they were, Chiyoha always made time for her patron, who was her biggest sponsor and Michiru was glad that she did, as this allowed her to see Haruka at least once a week for a few hours. They never managed to speak or interact much – but a gentle brushing of hands, a whisper in her ear and seeking out of each other's company as often as possible told Michiru that she might not be the only one who felt the attraction. And there were the angry glances Haruka sent towards every customer daring to approach her or even only compliment her, she thought, smiling to herself.

She closed her eyes again, as the hair dresser continued to work on her hair and fell asleep for a little while, dreaming of Haruka, not in the guise of her beloved from a far away past for once, but of her present self.

* * *

><p>To be continued.<p>

In case anyone doesn't know, a minarai is the stage before a girl becomes a maiko, during which she watches other maikos and geishas entertain customers (particularly her older sister), but doesn't do so herself yet. It doesn't last very long, only a month or so.

Sources: I read "Geisha of Gion" recently (which is an autobiography of a very well-known geisha called Mineko Iwasaki, who was active in the 1960s and 70s) and although my story takes place more than half a century earlier, it influenced of course a little how I describe Michiru's life in this chapter. That's why I wanted to mention it (and recommend it in case you're interested in geishas, it's really great :)). The route Haruka's parents take to Europe is loosely based on a diary from a German doctor living in Japan who traveled back from Europe to Japan around 1900 (after looking himself for a wife in Germany – he didn't find one and finally married his Japanese lover, by the way).


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks a lot for your reviews :) Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well!

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><p>There was a regular clanging sound.<p>

Only moments later she realized that what she heard were her own footsteps. She was walking down a long hallway, not hurriedly, but fast, determinedly – and she couldn't stop. She had no control over her body at all. What was happening?

She raised her hand – she wore long white gloves, how very strange – and after knocking shortly on a door she opened it and entered without waiting for a reply.

A woman was sitting in a chair by a large window, looking outside. The scenery showed a stormy sea, the sky dark and gray. She stepped closer and the woman turned, smiling at her.

"How was the journey, Uranus?" she asked.

The window glass in the candle-lit room faintly showed their reflections and startled she found herself with bare legs, a short dark blue skirt, short sleeves and a collar as she had seen sailors wear it. And a yellow bow in front. Ridiculous.

If her face had obeyed her, she would have frowned. Instead she returned the woman's smile. She was beautiful with long aquamarine curls and blue eyes and she seemed familiar, even though she couldn't quite say why.

In a swirl of colors her clothing changed all of a sudden and that was when she realized that she had to be dreaming. Now she wore light trousers and a shirt and she stepped closer to the woman, coming to stand behind her. She leaned down to kiss her as though it was the most natural thing in the world and then laid her hands on her shoulders, glancing at the mirror she was holding.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Neptune", she replied, startling herself with the belated answer.

There was a young girl to be seen in the mirror, with golden hair arranged in a foreign way and a moon shining on her forehead.

"How is our fair princess today?" she asked, chuckling softly, as the girl in the mirror tripped over the hem of her white dress and was caught by another young girl with curly brown hair held up in a high ponytail.

"She is growing up so quickly…", the woman – Neptune? – replied. She laid the mirror on the armrest and rose.

The light blue dress swayed softly, as she pulled the smaller woman into a gentle embrace. "I missed you", she whispered and leaned down to kiss her again.

~o~o~

"Hey Tenoh-kun, are you paying attention?" Haruka looked up startled and nodded hastily.

Usually she never dreamed vividly and hardly ever remembered her dreams, but this time it was different and the dream she had had a few nights ago haunted her ever since, making it hard to concentrate. The professor shook his head, but let it pass and walked over to another group of students deeply immersed in discussion.

She looked at the slowly developing construction in front of her. After lengthy discussions her group had finally settled for a glider rather than a balloon – very much so, because Haruka had strongly argued in favor of it, believing that it held greater potential for speed. However, it was also definitely the riskier option, for while balloons were a quite established and relatively safe method of flying, the same could hardly be said for the accident-prone and potentially lethal gliding flights.

But somehow, this was exactly what appealed to her, she thought, smiling to herself, as she continued to work.

"It's awesome, isn't it?" Yosuke, one of her fellow students joined her and ran a hand over the one of the half-finished wings. "I'm excited to see you try it out… if you really have the guts to do so", he grinned, but good-naturedly so. "Otherwise I might have the first go…"

"You wish", she answered, grinning and ignored the silent stab of nagging guilt as she thought of her promise to her uncle.

~o~o~

Impatiently Haruka glanced towards the door. The meeting had just finished and was now continued in a smaller circle – only Mr Uchida, one of his fellow politicians, her uncle and herself were present. Michiru and Chiyoha had been booked for the evening, as so often, but they had not arrived yet.

Today's meeting had went well, they had achieved what they wanted and were now discussing possible further steps – whom to approach, which connections to use. Takashi Uchida, who was Chiyoha's most important patron, was a very different person from her uncle and Haruka didn't like him too much. While her uncle was an idealist and cared about nothing but ideas and theory, Mr. Uchida was a strategist and while she couldn't help but admire the hands-on way he used to achieve what he wanted, she felt that he valued the power connected to politics much more than the ideals pursued.

It wasn't long until a small rustling sound alerted her and she looked up again to see Michiru slide open the door. The maiko stood from her kneeling position, entered gracefully, and after Chiyoha had stepped in after her, knelt down again and slid the door shut quietly in one smooth movement.

Today she was wearing a dark blue kimono with water lilies sprinkled generously across it, complimenting her faintly greenish shining hair. Chiyohas kimono matched hers in a similar blue, but was adorned with butterflies. The geisha was a little taller than Michiru and a classic beauty that might just have descended from a woodblock print, while Michiru posed a lovely contrast to her sister with her unusual, but no less beautiful features.

The girls greeted their customers and after a short while business talk was put to rest for the day. The meeting quickly got quite merry with Chiyoha skillfully leading the group in a drinking game and soon the three men were very much drunk.

Haruka refrained from drinking too much, always worried to give herself away if she ever lost contro. Instead she busied herself with glaring at Yoshio Tanaka, the younger assistant of Mr. Uchida, who was getting very attentive towards Michiru, who was sitting beside him, making it quite hard for the young girl to politely fend his attentions off. Of course, this was not the first time something like this happened and Haruka found herself inexplicably furious every single time and often unable to hold herself back, so that to her embarrassment it was quite well-known by now that Professor Tenoh's young nephew had a soft spot for pretty Chiyoko.

Noticing Michiru's predicament, Chiyoha smiled knowingly at Haruka and spoke up. "Chiyoko-chan, why don't you show young Tenoh-sama the beautiful garden? I'm afraid that he might be a little bored, as he doesn't enjoy drinking so much…"

Gratefully, Michiru nodded and upon Haruka's agreement stood, making her way towards an open door which lead out into a beautifully arranged garden. Yoshio's protests were quickly quieted, as Chiyoha poured him more sake and proposed another game.

It was a wonderful warm summer night and the garden was faintly lit by a few lanterns and the light coming from the house with its paper windows. Cicadas were making an almost overwhelming noise, as though they celebrated the warm, dry evening.

They slowly walked over the stone path towards a small bridge crossing the tiny pond in which probably koi were to be found, but it was too dark to discern what caused the movement in the water.

"A firely!" Michiru exclaimed happily, as a small glowing light buzzed past them and Haruka smiled at the excitement the usually so calm and collected maiko displayed.

"I am afraid, I have nothing to catch one for you, Michiru-san", she replied in a low voice and Michiru turned her head and smiled at hearing her call her by that name.

"I don't mind, I prefer them to be free", she replied, looking after the small beetle.

Loud singing sounded from the house and startled both of them turned back. Michiru giggled softly. "I don't think we need to worry about them missing us. At that rate, everyone will be asleep before long."

She took Haruka's hand, taking her by surprise and pulled her towards the little bridge.

"Tell me, how you have been, Tenoh-sama. We see each other so often and yet never really speak…", she said as they walked slowly through the garden, Haruka matching her long strides to the small steps which the kimono with its long hem required her companion to make.

"Will you not call me Haruka, Michiru-san?" she replied, tentatively entwining their fingers and glancing nervously back at the house. There was still singing and laughter to be heard. "If it's just the two of us?"

Michiru smiled up at her, gently tightening her fingers around Haruka's. "Well then, Haruka-san, how have you been?"

She chuckled softly at her persistence and started to tell her about the flying machine they were building. Michiru did not seem surprised by her unusual interests at all, she merely laughed gently at her excitement and frowned worriedly every now and then. And then, upon Michiru's careful inquiry, she told her about her parent's letter, realizing all of a sudden that the young maiko was the only person in the world to whom she could speak of such things.

"And you, Michiru-san? You must know all about me there is to know by now and all I know about you is your real name," she finally said.

"Oh, there is nothing really to know about me…", Michiru replied softly and averted her eyes.

"Will you not tell me about your daily life?" Haruka persisted and Michiru looked up in surprise. But then she nodded and complied, her account getting more and more animated, as Haruka listened intently, startled by the insight into the maiko's world, which seemed so remote and different from her own.

Before long, they were sitting on a stone bench, glad that no sudden rain showers forced them to go back inside and the full moon which had been hiding behind a few clouds appeared, bathing the garden in its gentle light.

"It's like last time, isn't it?" Haruka said and Michiru smiled.

"A little", she replied softly, looking down at their still entwined hands, which rested between them.

Haruka could still hearing singing and laughing from the house and she chuckled softly. "We're lucky that they don't miss us yet."

"Chiyoha is a very skillful entertainer", Michiru replied.

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Did you…did you ask Chiyoha-san to keep the others occupied?"

Michiru's carefully neutral expression crumbled, as her face broke into a mischievous smile. "Maybe...would you mind if I had?"

Haruka chuckled and shook her head. She disengaged her right hand to reach up and cup Michiru's face, shining paper-white in the moonlight.

Michiru smiled up her and following a sudden impulse, she leaned down to kiss her.

The kiss lingered a short moment until Michiru broke it. She looked at her confused, worried. Had she misread her so?

But then Michiru reached up to smooth over the frown on her face, smiling tenderly and kissing her back shortly.

"We would ruin my make-up and I still need to go back in there, Haruka-san…", she whispered softly and gave her a teasing smile, but her eyes were sad.

"Ohh…", she laughed, feeling both relieved and frustrated. She pulled Michiru into a gentle embrace, her hands making their way down the thick fabric of her obi to come to rest on the silken kimono. She smelled the familiar scent of cedar, but there was something else, a scent that reminded her of the sea, she noted startled.

"Is there no chance of ever seeing you without your maiko attire, Michiru-san?" she asked softly and pulled back to look into her blue eyes. The color was just as strange as the color of her own eyes. But it seemed right to her – and then she realized why the woman in her dream had looked so familiar. She had the same eyes.

"Tenoh!" Yoshio's gruff, drunken sounding voice came from the house suddenly, startling both of them.

"Come back inside and share Chiyoko-san with us! It's unfair if you keep her all evening to yourself!"

They exchanged an exasperated look and rose to make their way back.

"I will think of something…", Michiru said before they entered the house and Haruka smiled at her, giving her hand a final squeeze, before releasing it.

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><p>To be continued.<p> 


End file.
